Whereas Splatoon 3 could be over three years previous and has since ended common content material updates, the sport’s newest patch, scheduled for January 29, provides some stunning options that may upend the meta.
Model 11.0.0 of Nintendo’s third-person shooter adds new mechanics and adjustments to present talents. The “Circulate Aura” characteristic rewards gamers for killstreaks, granting velocity and protection buffs whereas capturing ink round them for about 30 seconds. Moreover, a well being bar will seem above enemies as you harm them.
The SRL analysis workforce is proud to current new findings about Ver. 11.0.0!
First up is the Circulate Aura state. In the event you splat a number of opponents with out getting splatted your self you will routinely ink the bottom round you and your bodily talents will all be barely improved. pic.twitter.com/H6I3KqbHaK— Splatoon North America (@SplatoonNA) January 27, 2026
The replace additionally makes some adjustments to hitbox detection, shrinking the hitboxes for gamers after they’re in swim type. To accommodate, hit bins for short-range weapons are bigger, which ought to incentivize gamers to interact opponents up shut. Lastly, these utilizing the Stealth Leap gear potential will take barely longer to Tremendous Leap again into the map.
It is considerably stunning that these vital gameplay adjustments are arriving in Splatoon 3 so late in its lifespan, which is main some Splatoon fans speculating that the replace is an early take a look at for potential options in a fourth mainline recreation within the sequence. The patch comes greater than half a yr after the final shock replace for Splatoon 3, which added new weapon variations and free Change 2 enhancements.
Nintendo hasn’t confirmed {that a} fourth Splatoon is within the works, however it did announce the franchise’s first spin-off, Splatoon Raiders, again in June. The corporate has been silent on the title since then, not even sharing a basic launch window.